Q: Disk not ejected properly

I don't want to count my chickens before they've hatched but, after many hours and months of looking and trying, this solution seems to be working!!!!! I wonder how much electricity I have used searching for this solution? Far more than I've saved using my ECO socket!!  Thanks (hopefully) bfhaith .

bfhaithOct 4, 2014 12:32 PM Re: Disk not ejected properly
Re: Disk not ejected properlyin response to iPhabio

OK, I'll offer my solution to what turned out to be a really simple problem.  I've been fighting this issue for the better part of a year, since I bought my Macbook Pro.  I've tried Jettison, resetting all sorts of things, everything I've been able to find online and found no solution that worked consistently.  I have three external drives, all different brands: WD, Seagate, and ioSafe.

Turns out (drumroll please) I have an APC UPS that has "smart" outlets.  When the "master" plug goes dark (in my case a Thunderbolt display when it sleeps), the other outlets shut down, including the ones into which my drives are plugged.  This type of power strip is becoming more and more common.  I plugged these into a "regular" outlet and problem solved.

I doubt this will help everyone, but it's a simple (and stupid to overlook) solution that helped me.

24 hours + on and still ok !!!  Fingers crossed.

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Of course, if you turn off the power to a drive (one way or another, including APC outlets shutting down), you will ALWAYS get, 'Disk not ejected properly".

But that's not the problem.

            The problem is when this happens with the drives powered up and turned on.

My issue was that when my screen went to "sleep" the drives were switching off.

This happened as the monitor dimmed and went out. My ECO power socket had my iMac plugged into the main socket and the drives and various other peripherals into the other sockets.

It didn't occur to me that the ECO socket might be the issue as neither the iMac or drives were supposed to be switching off - just sleeping.

When I moved my mouse or touched a key they all woke up.

I assume it is something to do with the ECO socket not being required to supply enough power to stay "live" so it shuts down power to the peripheral drives and causes the DNEP message.

Anyway now I have taken the offending socket out of the equation the iMac screen dims and goes to sleep as do the drives without the DNEP warning.

They come back to life as before on mouse movement etc.

Still good so far.

I might try a different ECO socket at some point in case mine was faulty.

I had this problem too and the fix worked for me - with one slight alteration. Step 5. I was unable to move the SystemConfiguration file to the desktop (OS 10.9.5). When I tried, it moved a copy to the desktop, but left the original in place (there's probably an easy way to make it move rather than copy but, if there is I am not aware of it). Anyway, the solution is to copy it to the desktop and then to move the original from Preferences to the trash (requires admin password). Then zip the copy (for just in case), trash the unzipped copy from the desktop and empty the trash. Then continue as per Robster50's instructions. Thank you Robster50 for your tenacity in chasing Apple down on this one, by the way, and then for taking the trouble to write it up. Much appreciated!

I had the same problem with the OWC ThunderBay 4 system - kept getting "Disk Not Ejected Properly" message (once per two minutes).  I replaced the ThunderBolt cable that came from OWC with an Apple ThunderBolt cable and have not had any problems.  The Apple cable is twice the diameter.  My hunch is better shielding and lower gauge wire for better signal SNR.

Hope this helps.

I've been reading this chat with great interest.

I have Hitachi 650GB and WD 3TB sitting in a "Hornetteek Enterprise 4x Quad Bay", work great.

I also have two separate external HD's - Maxtor 650GB and Intenso 500GB.

They all switch off during sleep, so when I wake my mac I get the anoying "Disc not ejected properly" message.

I recently purchased the "Inateck 4 Port PCI-E to USB 3.0 Expansion Card" and installed into my Mac Pro (early 2009). It plugs straight into the PCI board, no other conections or cables apart from the external USB.

This was to upgrade from USB2.0 to USB3.0 for faster Hard Drive read/write data speed.

After reading a couple of rating related feedback comments I discovered that one downside to the "Inateck" is that during sleep transition HD's connected to the PCI card will flag the message "Disc not ejected properly" on wake. However they will re-mount within a couple of seconds. Other than this downside I can't recommend this PCI card enough.

The only inconvenience is that I have to close four "Disc not ejected properly" windows.

I'm guessing the PCI card loses power when the mac sleeps. I have posted a couple of questions to Inateck support:

1. Is there a separate power cable that can be connected to the PCI board?

2. Will allowing my mac to sleep like this damage my Hard Drives?

I'm waiting for a reply.

Here is the reply I received from Inateck:

"For you information,the "problem" you mentioned is also frequently asked by our other customers. We think it is a normal phenomenon. Unlike a PC itself, most PC peripherals won't support the Sleep/Wake up function. This means you have to unplug and plug your devices like a HDD connected with an expansion card if you wake up a PC from Sleep Mode. Considering about the data security and device maintenance, we also suggest you to exit your HDD every time before your mac goes into Sleep Mode. This advice is also mentioned in Mac official forum.

Or you can do some setting to disallow your Mac goes to sleep mode. Hope you can understand it"

Looks like my Mac won't be going to sleep...

Thanks. That's the most cogent and understandable response I've seen, even though I don't like the answer. It's not entirely clear why this didn't use to happen in much earlier OSes, at least not to me. Maybe it did happen, and the OS simply didn't produce the DNEP message. I think I can recall times when the external drive had been disconnected when I tried to access it, and I had to start it up again. Anyway, it doesn't seem like most people are losing data as a result.

Your reply from Inateck is not true. ALL of my peripherals (except USB hubs) go to sleep with the Mac Pro...and I have a lot.

I Would tend to agree with both of you. I can't remember having this problem in the past with regards to my Mac going to sleep. Mind you for the last couple of years I haven't been allowing my Mac to sleep" I can't remember why I made this decission, but it may be linked to the "not ejected properly" issue. As far as I understand three of my hard drives have individual power supplies, therefore the USB connection would only transfer data. So if your Mac goes to sleep the hard drives still have their own power, allowing them to sleep.

I've exhausted my efforts to find a solution to this problem, so for me it's "never sleep" or sleep and hope my drives don't get damaged.

By any chance, did you remove all power from Mac and drives, as in my earlier response?

I don't know what WMS44 has done, but I /did/ remove all power (internal battery connection) from my Macbook Pro Retina (mid-2012) for about half an hour in the process of replacing my SSD, and the problem with DNEP was unchanged. I know you have said repeatedly to remove power for 2 hours, but it's hard to believe that without any power the capacitance would hold that long. I suppose anything possible.

I've also tried all the other remedies suggested here, including cable changes, removing the configuration folder from the library, etc., etc. But my DNEP issue so far occurs /only/ with my USB 3.0 WD MyBook drive, not my other USB or Thunderbolt drives.

I suspect this DNEP issue is multifactorial cross various OSes and computers and HD, and that there is not a single explanation or fix that "fits all." What baffles me is that Apple, which surely must be aware of this issue from support calls to Applecare for those who have Applecare, hasn't tried to figure out what is going on by looking at Console logs, error reports, and the like.

Sorry , I should have mentioned that I did disconnect everything from my Mac Pro and powered down for 10 hrs. Didn't work for me.

I Also gave RObster50's solution a go. Still no luck.

I Reached the conclusion that it was down to the inateck PCI expansion card.

I'm sure if I swapped one of the hard drives to one of the original USB 2.0 ports it would be fine. But that still doesn't solve my USB 3.0 to HD's issue.